And when Ewan is leaving the theater at the end, all pissed off at Nicole, I was just sitting there thinking, “Please don’t start singing that song. Please don’t start singing that song-it’s just too obvious.” And what does Nicole do? She starts singing.
Well, it beats talking about fucking P**** H*****.
As for the storyline, well, explaining it won’t make you like it any better (which is fine with me, of course; you don’t like the movie, you don’t like it. That’s cool).
Think of ML as opera. That’s key. Everything is over the top in opera, and some of the storylines are breathtakingly idiotic (Turandot comes to mind in particular). The key behind them is the emotion, the powerful emotion we feel when we’re in love, when we hate, when we see someone we love die.
And yes, truth, beauty, freedom and love are the most important things in life. But nothing comes without a price, my dovies. I love my children, and now I must worry about them getting hurt, being hurt, maybe dying before I do. I love my wife, but we’ll share that wonderful love only for a finite time. Freedom is even more important, but there’s a price to be paid for that as well. Satine comes alive when she accepts Christian’s love, but she discovers she can no longer fake love for money.
I admit, I was caught up in the end, and I cried when Satine died. But I wasn’t crying for her; I was crying for my lost ones who I didn’t cry for when they died. If I saw ML five years ago, I probably wouldn’t have. It wasn’t bred into my bones then just how much I have to lose that have nothing to do with a nice house, a new car, the latest PlayStation and a new computer.
But what I loved ML most of all was the chances it took. Wild photography, vibrant acting, using modern songs and colorful stagings. So totally unlike any Hollywood product, all of which were in the previews. I love ML, if only for taking the chances it did.
Yeah, I ground my teeth during the intermitable “Your Songs” although I like the song and love E.John. And when Ewan bleated out some his lyrics, I expected Nicole to fly off the screen. The “dance” under the moon was exceptionally badly done, and the soundtrack half-sucks: no opening number? No “Like A Virgin?” And who was the fuckclown who decided that one of the most important songs in the movie “The Show Must Go On” be left off?
Again, this is not implying that there’s something wrong if you don’t like it. Not at all. But this will give you some idea of why I loved it.
I went to this movie just this very afternoon.The entire first 30 minutes I was glancing side-long at the two women that suggested it and mumbling “You two are never picking a movie again.” I’ll admit, though, I walked out thinking it was okay(How much of that was simply Nicole Kidman, I’m not sure :D), though the three of us agreed that being on acid would have helped for the beginning.
$0.0002
I have found this to be true about most recent movies, all eye-candy and ear-stroking, but little or no story. Far too many movies these days are just EFX highlight reels. Part of the blame rests on Star Wars (and I like SW) and the rest on music videos.
There’s an Absinthe Fairy?
I have to con someone into taking me to this…
I loved it!
It was beautiful. It was soppy. It was the same old familiar story, and I like familiarity.
Ok, it doesn’t take much to please me.
I’m well aware that I have no taste when it comes to film and literature. Given a choice between a deep and meaningful story and pure eye candy, I’ll go the eye candy everytime. I watch movies to have fun, and I did have fun. The colours were glorious, the camera work was incredible, the songs were fabulous, the costumes were brilliant… for me, there was nothing to dislike. It was a great big shiny colourful music video to go with songs I’ve grown up to, and better still - it weaved in a love story.
I’m sick of people ragging on pop culture. Why is it popular? Because most of the people like it. So it may not be terribly good, but in the world of pop culture, all that glitters is gold. I don’t care that it’s not sincere. Pop culture is about enjoying the moment, and gives you plenty to laugh at in hindsight.
My true test of a movie - Did I laugh? Did I cry? Did I like the characters? In this case, the answer is - Yes, I laughed. Yes, I cried. Yes, I fell in love with Christian and wept for the loss of Satine. I can’t wait for the DVD to come out, and I will probably buy “More Songs from the Moulin Rouge” to go with the first soundtrack - I noticed they held out a few good tracks, and I assume they’re for the second CD. 
I wish to announce to the world - I have no taste and I’m proud of it!
Hey! I don’t rag on certain examples of pop culture simply because they ARE pop culture!
I evaluate, and decide which I like and which I don’t like, just like with the fency-schmency stuff.
I like Brahms’s Intermezzos for piano, and I don’t like Balanchine’s choreography, okay? I like “Doonesbury,” but I don’t like James Taylor.
Moulin Rouge was sorta in-between for me. I appreciated that they tried to do something new and interesting with the editing and design, and that to do that and let you concentrate on it, they had to go with a two-dimensional dopey plotline. Unfortunately, the editing and design reminded me of an evil drug experience.
Depends on your view of pop culture. I think of “pop” as all of the mass-produced corporate glurge put out ever five minutes and shoved down the throats of America’s public. It’s not popular because most of the people like it. It’s popular because the adolescent girls who like it make up the loudest demographic for MTV and “modern music” radio stations like it. Hence, it gets played more.
But hey, that’s a different debate entirely. In fact, I don’t even consider Moulin Rouge as “pop culture”. It tried new, daring things, and, as I said in the OP, I enjoyed it. I just thought its beginning was a bit TOO daring, since it made me feel like I’d been on a Tilt-A-Whirl for too long.